Let’s bury the hatchet: Blame game between Germany and Greece plays into enemy hands

Finger-pointing between Germany and Greece will only play into the hands of Europe’s enemies, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Monday, pleading for the two countries to bury the hatchet.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis applauds during a parliamentary session in Athens March 18, 2015. With incendiary interviews, an undiplomatic demeanour, a celebrity photo shoot and an obscene finger gesture, Varoufakis is becoming part of Greece's debt problem rather than the solution, or so his euro zone partners believe. Many Greeks regard their new finance minister as a breath of fresh air, a man who has told his colleagues in the Eurogroup a few home truths about the futility of forcing austerity policies on an economy that has endured a depression for five years. But his readiness to break the conventions of European discourse has caused consternation, and not just among the buttoned-up finance chiefs and bureaucrats who populate the Eurogroup.  REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis  (GREECE - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis applauds during a parliamentary session in Athens March 18, 2015. With incendiary interviews, an undiplomatic demeanour, a celebrity photo shoot and an obscene finger gesture, Varoufakis is becoming part of Greece’s debt problem rather than the solution, or so his euro zone partners believe. Many Greeks regard their new finance minister as a breath of fresh air, a man who has told his colleagues in the Eurogroup a few home truths about the futility of forcing austerity policies on an economy that has endured a depression for five years. But his readiness to break the conventions of European discourse has caused consternation, and not just among the buttoned-up finance chiefs and bureaucrats who populate the Eurogroup. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

“The only ones who profit from this toxic blame game are Europe’s enemies,” Varoufakis wrote in a leader column in the business daily Handelsblatt.

Athens and Berlin have been engaged in a bitter war of words recently over plans by the new Greek government under Alexis Tsipras to renegotiate the terms of its massive international bailout.

European paymaster Germany has been leading the push for austerity in Europe, with Greece complaining that the punishing budget cuts demanded were damaging its economy and threatening to force it out of the eurozone.

Tensions came to a head earlier this month in a spat over a disputed video clip in which Varoufakis was shown raising his middle finger to Germany.

But the minister insists the video was doctored.

“This must stop,” Varoufakis wrote. “Only then can Greece, with support of its partners, focus on implementing effective reforms and growth-orientated policy strategies,” he said.

Rumours have been circulating that Varoufakis could resign, but they were denied by Athens last Friday.

Athens is set to present a list of economic reform proposals to international creditors this week in a bid to unblock a new 7.2 billion euro ($7.8 billion) tranche of EU-IMF loans and avoid a debt default.

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

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